EPISODE DESCRIPTONS

SERIES 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Xmas Special

THE BLACK ADDER
*Number in parentheses at end of program description is BBCWA library tape number.

1. THE FORETELLING - Edmund Blackadder mistakenly kills King Richard III, making his own father king. But he is also responsible for the escape of his father's greatest enemy, Henry Tudor. (1)

2. BORN TO BE KING - With the King off to the Crusades, Edmund attempts to discredit Prince Harry's claim to be next in line for the crown. He and Baldrick nearly succeed in casting doubt on his own legitimacy instead. (2)

3. THE ARCHBISHOP - Edmund is made the Archbishop, which has not been a very safe office to hold. It seems that the King doesn't agree with the church, and the landscape is littered with the bodies of former Archbishops. (3)

4. THE QUEEN OF SPAIN'S BEARD - King Richard IV is in need of forging an alliance with Spain. In order to prevent war and draw the two countries together, the King declares that Edmund must marry a Spanish Princess. (4)

5. WITCHSMELLER PURSUIVANT - England faces a duel crisis: sorcery is afoot and there is a great plague across the land. Woe to Edmund, that he is accused of being a witch by a witchsmeller. Will he and Baldrick have their day at the stake? (5)

6. THE BLACK SEAL - These are the six most dangerous men in England, and Edmund plans to employ them in order to take over the throne. Edmund also attends to business in dismissing Percy and Baldrick from his service for good. (6)

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BLACKADDER II
1. BELLS - The congenital defects of the Blackadder family resurface. Edmund falls in love with his new man-servant, who is really a girl in disguise. Lord Flashheart turns up to spoil the wedding. (7)

2. HEAD - Things get a bit hot for Edmund when he is appointed Head Executioner and accidentally executes Sir Francis Drake. This causes Edmund a slight problem when Drake's wife is given permission by the Queen to see him. (8)

3. POTATO - Sir Walter Raleigh returns from exploring the New World. Edmund decides to do some exploring to impress the Queen and with the aid of Captain Rum sets out on a two year trip to New Zealand in search of potatoes. (9)

4. MONEY - The Bishop of Bath & Wells arrives to collect on a debt that Edmund owes. The clergy of Elizabethan England could be ruthless in their methods of chastising their flock, which explains the red hot poker the Bishop is brandishing. (10)

5. BEER - Edmund has his Aunt and Uncle Whiteadder over for dinner. An awfully embarrassing set of circumstances - involving a turnip, an ostrich feather and his rather large aunt - brings trouble to the Blackadder home. (11)

6. CHAINS - Edmund and Melchett are kidnapped by a German who plans to overthrow England's Queen. In a fitting end to the current series, the entire court are gruesomely, and some would argue deservedly, murdered. (12)

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BLACKADDER THE THIRD
1. DISH AND DISHONESTY - The new Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger (age not quite yet 14), plans to bankrupt the Prince. As usual, Blackadder takes his master's side (and in this case his wallet as well). (13)

2. INK AND INCAPABILITY - Dr. Samuel Johnson asks the Prince for support of his new enterprise, a dictionary. When that work accidentally gets used for firewood, Edmund must re-write it before Dr. Johnson finds out. (14)

3. NOB AND NOBILITY - The Scarlet Pimpernel is the talk of London, much to Edmund's chagrin. He is set upon by French revolutionaries and held captive. (15)

4. SENSE AND SENILITY - Anarchists lurk in every cupboard and actors in every coffee house. Which poses a greater threat to the Prince Regent? And more importantly, will his trousers stand the strain? (16)

5. AMI AND AMIABILITY - There are a total of nine pence left in the royal treasury and Edmund sets out to find a suitable dowry for the Prince Regent to marry. Edmund locates one Amy Hardwood, " a light fluffy bunny of a girl." (17)

6. DUEL AND DUALITY - Will Edmund's Scottish cousin, MacAdder, save him from death at the hands of the fearsome Duke of Wellington? Or is he more interested in Mrs. Miggin's buns? Baldrick comes up with a cunning idea! (18)

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BLACKADDER GOES FORTH
1. CAPTAIN COOK - In the trenches on the front, Edmund vows that he's damned if he's doomed. When General Haig unveils his new strategy to move his drinks cabinet nearer to Berlin, Blackadder volunteers to be Official War Artist. (19)

2. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT - In 13 years of service to King and Country, Edmund has faced danger: in Nepal tackling an over spiced curry; in Mombassa, confronting 200,000 grass- skirted men. But now he is truly in a pickle. (20)

3. MAJOR STAN - Bad news reaches the trenches. The October Revolution in Moscow has produced three appalling results: a cease-fire by Russia, an offensive by Germany and a Charlie Chaplin impression by Baldrick. (21)

4. PRIVATE PLANE - Blackadder joins the Royal Flying Corps in order to escape the trenches. When he crashes behind the enemy lines with Baldrick, Lord Flashheart battles the Red Baron in order to rescue them. (22)

5. GENERAL HOSPITAL - Edmund is given three weeks to find a spy in the hospital. He takes this as an opportunity to get on with the lovely Nurse Mary and to spend the better portion of those weeks in bed. (23)

6. GOOD BYE - Edmund and Lt. Barley share a nice rat stroganoff in their tent when word arrives that tomorrow morning the troops are going "over the top." Could a feigned bout of insanity put Edmund on the road to Calais? (24)

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CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

A BLACKADDER CHRISTMAS CAROL - Ebenezer Adder is the kindest man in England, until a visit from the Spirit of Christmas helps him to see the error of his ways. And the first ever Blackadder with a pleasant personality gets his comeuppance pretty damn fast.